Avatar: The Way of Water has just broken a major international record during its eleventh weekend at the box office. The film, which debuted on December 16, 2022, is James Cameron's long-awaited follow-up to his 2009 hit Avatar, which is still the highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide. It follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) as they navigate parenthood and the return of deadly human forces to their isolated moon of Pandora. Since its premiere late last year, the film has already grossed over $2 billion, becoming the third highest-grossing film of all time.
Per Deadline, this weekend the box office gross of Avatar: The Way of Water has now risen to a total of $2.26 billion worldwide. While it hasn't climbed any further up the overall chart, it has broken one major regional record. It is now the No. 1 highest-grossing film of all time in Europe, even beating out the original Avatar.
Could Avatar: The Way of Water's Box Office Domination Expand Worldwide?
Even though the sequel has beaten the original Avatar in this major way, there is still quite a long way to go to become the No. 1 film of all time. Currently Avatar stands at a staggering gross of $2.923 billion, leaving Avatar 2 a solid gap of about $650 million yet to climb. Even if it hoped to reach second place and oust the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Avengers: Endgame, the film would have to make $532 million.
Unfortunately for Avatar: The Way of Water, its uninterrupted run at the box office has run into some heavy competition. Although Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is having a dismal second week for a Marvel film, it is still handily besting Avatar across the board. The new wide releases of Cocaine Bear and Jesus Revolution have also worked in tandem to push the Avatar sequel down to No. 4 at the domestic box office this weekend, the lowest it has ever dipped.
In order to beat the original Avatar at the rate it's been climbing weekend over weekend, Avatar: The Way of Water would have to run for an additional 27 weeks. A run that long isn't entirely out of the question, but each subsequent weekend will gross less and less, moving that goalpost even farther out. Strong competition from upcoming March franchise entries like Scream 6, Creed III, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods will also give it stiff competition in the theatrical marketplace coming up, making an Avatar dethroning unlikely if not entirely out of the question.
Source: Deadline
